Get the Tornados-style Ondioline riff

Joe Meek’s classic 60s hit Telstar was performed by The Tornados, but its lead-line melody was performed using an Ondioline. We recreate it, using our very own ZebraCM

> Step by step 2. Recreate a classic 60s sound for free!

1

Begin by opening a copy of your preferred DAW Software, and loading an instance of our superb u-He ZebraCM soft-synth package. Go to the display at the top of the window, click on the dropdown, and select ‘Init’ from the menu to initialise the patch, ready for our creation. 2

The Ondioline let the user create their own initial waveforms, by altering the harmonic content. Luckily, ZebraCM is already equipped with useful waveforms. Moving to Osc1, change the waveform until it reads 11.40 in the upper display. This provides a reedy sound, ideal for this. 3

We now want to replicate the setting of Osc1 on Osc2, so within the Osc2 section, click on the waveform display again, drag the pot upwards, and apply a setting of 11.40, which should be apparent in the upper display. 4

Now, the only oscillator we’re hearing is Osc1 because the volume is turned down on Osc2, so staying within the Osc2 section, move to the Volume control, to the left of the waveform display, and adjust the volume to 10 o’clock. This gives a value of around 60 in the upper display. 5

Staying in Osc2, we now want to change the pitch of the oscillator. On the original, the Ondioline was played in octaves, but we can recreate this by pitching Osc2 down an octave, no need to play lines twice. Use the Tune pot to drag the value down to -12 (one octave). 6

The Ondioline was a monophonic machine and it’d be helpful to recreate this on ZebraCM. Move to the Global section, located to the left of the plugin. Just below the section legend, you’ll see the setting default of Poly. Click here, and select Mono from the dropdown menu. 7

Now we’ll add vibrato; move to the LFO section, located to the right of the plugin, and ensure you have LFO1 selected. Adjust the Rate pot so that the display at the top reads 130. Depending how you wish to use the sound, you can speed this rate up, or slow it down. 8

Next we need to route the LFO to both oscillators. Right-click the tiny circle, to the right of the tuning pot on Osc1, and select LFO1 from the drop-down. Now leftclick and hold the same circle, and drag the value up to 1. Repeat on Osc2. This will route LFO1 to the pitch of both oscillators. 9

Our vibrato setting is excessive. Tame this by revisiting the LFO section, locating the Amplitude pot, and lessening the value. We recommend a value of around 40. Now play your lead melody, and exploit the monophonic capabilities, playing as smoothly as you can.